


To The Morning We're Cast Out

by Justiceway, Laylaisthename



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 09:20:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12650694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justiceway/pseuds/Justiceway, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laylaisthename/pseuds/Laylaisthename
Summary: The past -when left undealt with- always has a strange way of coming back to you. When that past involves a certain exile, it just makes it all that much more complicated.-My Hunter's back story finally expanded beyond 'she knows a lot about the Vex and is smart and Gay(tm)' now that Curse of Osiris is right around the corner.





	1. Just Another Night

_When someone leaves your life, those exits are not made equal. Some are beautiful and poetic and satisfying. Others are abrupt and unfair. But most are just unremarkable, unintentional, clumsy.  
\- GRIFFIN MCELROY_

 

**[Now]**

 

"Are you sure you don't need me here during the hearing?" Lucile already stood in the hangar bay, research supplies packed into her ship. Her Ghost, Milo, had gone to bring it around while she and Osiris brought in the last of her things.

He lets out a soft laugh and hands her the last of the empty Radiolaria canisters. "I will be fine, Lulu. You just worry about getting us some Radiolaria and that Hydra head. It's very interesting once we get past the optical core. It's not so different from the Hobgoblins. Simpler and yet... ah, well, It will make sense when I show you and Ezekiel once you come back."

At the mention of the Warlock's name she lets out a huff. One that earns her a most curious look from her teacher.

"What? I don't hate him or anything it's just that he's..."

"Very much a 'Warlock'?" Ikora quips in. "You might want to put more than a moment's thought into your words, considering the company you keep, _Hunter_."

Ikora subsequently turns to her mentor, "The Vanguard wish to speak to you about a... situation on the moon."

"Thank you, Ikora. How was your match on the Twilight Gap?"

Osiris and Ikora delve into the specifics of the match, and Lucile quickly loses interest in the conversation. Outside the hangar she can see her ship approach, and soon after Milo tells her that they're ready to go.

Osiris seemingly notices too, because he pulls away from the conversation and puts a hand on her shoulder. His face held a strange expression for a moment before he pulls her in for a hug. She's slightly taken by surprise, but quickly returns the gesture. He holds her at an arm’s length again, that odd look still in his eyes.

"We will meet again." He says, just before her Ghost transmats her to the ship. And with a 'stay safe' from Ikora she is off to Venus.

Lucile didn't think much of his words back then. 'Cryptic wording' and 'Warlock' were synonymous to her. So life simply went on once she reached Venus.


	2. Get Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucile returns to Venus; her place of rebirth. Unfortunately, waking up on a hostile planet is not quite the 'welcome back to the living' one might want. Even more unfortunate is the welcoming party once the Hunter reaches Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See what I meant when I said that chapter 1's length doesn't mean shit to me

**[Past]**

She loves Venus about as much as she hates it. The sulfurous atmosphere and abundance of Vex certainly made for interesting company. It doesn't take long for her to find a Hydra. Big hulking creatures like that were easy to lure out into the open. Retrieving it's head would prove more difficult, and Lucy spends the better part of the day trying to obtain one that’s still -mostly- intact.

 

A few day/night cycles pass and eventually she retreats back home. Her home. Her small spot in the vast universe she claimed for her own. An old broken research lab stood just outside the city on Venus, a beaten path leading her the way. A path she had walked so many times after her resurrection. One she imagined she had walked so long ago before that, too.

The first few months after resurrection were tough; food was scarce, she had no weapons and venturing out further into the city was too dangerous because of all the Vex that were crawling around. But like all Hunters she was nothing if not resourceful.  

She woke up among death and made it her own. Sat on top of a lab-coat with an employee ID that looked like her. She fashioned the coat into a cloak and her name became Lucile M. Paredes. She still doesn't know what the M stands for.

Out of bones and metal she made herself a knife. It was nowhere near as effective as the one she carries now, but the Vex didn't care once it punctured their Radiolaria chambers. She named it Myrtle, after an ID she found hooked to a lab-coat that didn't look like she did.

Once the Goblin was dead the machine's weapon was hers. When it didn't fire in her hands she kept working until it did. By the time it broke she already had a dozen more that fired even better. She named that one Ryo, after the ID she found in the robotics lab. Naming her weapons seems so silly now, but near isolation would do that to a person. Made her feel a little less lonely.

Very few things scared her anymore, save the occasional Hydra floating around. In time she ventured out further, explored the planet bit by bit until it became a home too. Lucy found archives that spoke of so many new things that she and her Ghost didn't know where to start. Innumerable days passed cooped up among the servers. Milo tells her this comes from the Golden Age, and though that means little to her she still feels a sense of pride.

When she leaves the Archive it seals behind her.

Among the rubble of the city she also finds a new enemy; the Fallen. She noticed that as long as she stayed out of their way, they kept away from her. It was the knowledge that they could kill each other over and over to no end that kept this unspoken truce upheld. That wouldn't stop her from sniffing around, though.

Sometime after she meets the Fallen they disappear again. When she finds where they are she's met with their own home. Milo calls it a Ketch. She asks if the smaller ones could take her to Earth, but her Ghost says that the Skiffs don't have warp drives. She asks if she could put one on there and he tells her that he doesn't know.

So she does it anyway.

Stealing a Skiff was surprisingly easy. The Fallen didn't expect anything. Not until a bullet pierced their Captain's eyes. Flying it was a lot harder; bringing it back to the lab near impossible.

But she did anyway. Milo is starting to see a pattern.

Unsalvageable ships held old warp drives. Again, her Ghost is unsure if it will work, but at this point he knows she will do it anyway.

So when she actually mounts a warp drive to the ships thrusters he isn't all that surprised. Milo is surprised when the Skiff makes it mostly intact into the Earth’s atmosphere, and again not so much when said ship is shot down before they even see the Traveler.

Milo revives her just outside the burning wreck and guides her toward the Traveler. He is excited to return home, she is simply amazed by all the colors that she never saw on Venus.

Hours pass and Lucile is a bit put off by the fact that it hasn't turned dark yet. The days on Venus were much shorter, the nights too. So when hours later night falls and it takes even longer for daybreak she asks her Ghost to tell her more about the Earth itself. He doesn't know that much himself, but assures her someone in the City could tell her all she wanted to know and Lucile walked a bit faster after that.

 

* * *

 

 

The fighting could be heard from afar, and walking turned to jogging turned to a full sprint once she saw the city -/the/ City- under attack. She recognized the Fallen but they were not the Fallen from Venus. Their sigils were different and there were more. So many more. Pushing their troops against the walls that held her City. From one moment to another the sound of distant combat turns to frantic order sent over the radio. Lucile freezes, overwhelmed by all that she hears;

"Onward! We cannot let them through!" "Chain, form up on me, our 3 is being pushed in." "A Walker on our right flank!" "Jival, I'm on my way." "I'm reloading." "Watch this." "Someone rez, sixer over there!" "I'm dropping my shield everyone get over here."

And it just keeps going on and on and on and on and- suddenly the radio turns off and it feels like she can breathe again.

"Sorry about that," Milo floats up to her, "my short range radio channel was still on."

Lucile takes a breath and walks on. "Thanks."

"I'll filter out the more general talk."

And again a breathless 'thank you' to her Ghost as the Hunter runs toward the battle.

 

It doesn't take long until she is within shooting distance of the battle and she quickly pulls out a Hobgoblin rifle to start picking off enemies. Her position behind the enemy lines both a blessing and a curse, as she starts shooting the Fallen from among the trees. They wouldn't expect anyone to come from the rear (especially not alone), but this also meant that if Lucile got into trouble she'd be on her own. And if she knew one thing it was that 'if' didn't exist for that scenario. It was a 'when'.

It takes a while for any of the Fallen to even notice her. Once she downs one of their Captains, however, her cover is blown. Another Captain menacingly points at her, shouting something in Eliksni, sending a group of Dregs  and Vandals to chase her off. Lucy quickly snipes one in the head before jumping down from her perch and breaking into a sprint, facing the Fallen head on. The Hobgoblin rifle is switched out for a shrapnel launcher she stole off a Captain on Venus and she fires a few rounds at them from afar to scatter them. None fall, but some were injured. The gunfire is returned, maybe not in force but definitely in number. Before Lucy knows it her shield is gone, and the impact from the shots starts to be felt. She dives into a roll to hide behind a rock. Footsteps approach, but with her shields still down Lucile is a sitting duck. The unmistakable shifting of a Captain can now be heard too, and the Hunter takes a deep breath.

She felt it when they got to Earth. Something calling her here, pulling her in. First she figured it was just them breaking into the atmosphere -G-forces could have that effect on you- but as she neared the City the draw only grew. That feeling filled her once she saw the Traveler from atop a cliff.

Like she was finally coming home after a long voyage.

And now, back pressed against the rock, the shrapnel launcher on the ground beside her, she calls upon that draw and pulls a pistol made of fire and Light and the call of home into existence. For a moment it feels like time stands still and everything she sees is a bit sharper, every sound clearer. The searing heat of the gun a comforting feeling.

Her body moves before her mind does. Lucy rolls out of cover and shoots. And shoots. And again and again and then twice more until the call of home is nothing but a buzz at her finger tips that urges her to keep going. For the shortest of seconds she stands still, before the adrenaline kicks in again, and she rushes forward to  the battle.

Eventually she makes her way to the Guardian-side of the conflict and teams up with whatever people stand closest to her. Soon enough their voices join that of whatever Titan leads this front. And then the voices of those on the front lines, that of scouts on the other fronts -six of them she learns- until this cacophony of war becomes a song. One she would hear for a few days longer.

And then one late afternoon that song turns into a chorus of cheers. Wild-fire rockets chase after the fleeing skiffs, guns fired into the air. The battle was over and at the end the City was still standing and so were they.

Everything after that becomes a blur; the City and its walls are rebuilt and Lucile is officially introduced to the Vanguard and the Guardians on Earth. A man named Andal gives her a shiny new cloak (one of many to come), an even shinier knife and sends her off. She learns more about the Traveler, the City and the Light; all kinds of things that the Archive and her Ghost couldn't tell her about.

She reads about the Hive on the moon and the Fallen in the Cosmodrome and in turn tells any that would listen what she learned of the Vex. And with Lucile it always came back to the Vex.

"Afraid I don't know much about 'em, Luca. We don't have the resources to keep sending Guardians up to Venus when we're needed in the City." Andal tells her. Lucile frowns a little, but nods. Now that she had a proper jumpship she had been itching to get back to Venus.

"If you want to go and shoot some of 'em up later I won't stop you but right now we need all'a us Hunters scouting out more of the Cosmodrome. The Fallen are cooped up in there and-" But he is cut off by another figure walking into the Vanguards chamber.

Lucile feels a hand clasp on her shoulder and when she looks who it is, she's a little surprised to see that the Warlock Vanguard is looming over her.

"Ah! A Hunter. I had been looking for one of you. I'm sure you won't mind me borrowing her, Andal?"

"You can't keep coming in and stealing away my Hunters, Osiris." Despite the joking tone of his voice, Lucy knows Andal meant it.

"It'll be just a moment, I promise." And with that Osiris leads her away. Once out of the chamber he drops his hand from her shoulder.

"Sorry about that," he starts, "but if Andal heard what I'm about to ask you he would never let me live it down."

"Ask me what?"

"Whether you would like to learn more of the Vex with me."

"Well, yeah, of course!" She excitedly exclaims, with a hastily added. "Uh, sir. I'd love that. But can I ask why?"

"An unfortunate side effect of becoming a Vanguard is having to stay put in the Tower. I read your reports on your time on Venus; some impressive work."

"Thanks, sir. But, ah, that still doesn't really answer my question." They walk up the stairs to the courtyard, eventually stopping at the edge of the Tower, facing the Traveler.

He lets out a hum, "Your time outside the City and away from the Traveler’s influence is, in a word, remarkable. Most of us are resurrected here on Earth, but in your reports you said that something called you here, yes? As if you knew you would be needed."

"You say that the Traveler called me here? But she's asleep, isn't she?"

"The Traveler is dormant, of that much we are sure but," he pauses for a moment and turns toward the City, "there is so much we still don't know about her, about our enemies, about why the Traveler came to us at all. The Eliksni attack the City in hope of retrieving the Traveler, and I doubt the Six fronts was the last we will see of them. But who else covets her? What other threats lurk among the stars?"

Lucile leans against the railing, her hands now crossed on her chest. "I still fail to see why you didn't ask some Warlock."

"We Warlocks are driven by a hunger for knowledge. We seek to uncover every last secret in the universe just like you Hunters chase the horizon to its end and the Titans swear to protect us until their very last breath. It is who we are. It is how we have been made. But," he turns back to her, "I sense some of that Warlock curiosity in you too, Hunter. You are not content accepting the world the way it is. So, my proposal is, I teach you of whatever you wish to know, and in return you help me understand the universe a bit better. If I send 'some Hunter' out on 'some errand or another' then the rest of the Vanguard won't ask me what my Warlocks are doing on Venus and Mars."

"They won't think I have any interest in what I'm doing."

It is a statement more so than a question.

"Exactly. Unfortunate as it may be, prejudice can be a powerful tool." The Vanguard turns around, back to the stairs. "I don't expect your definitive answer today, Lucile. But you'll know where to find me when you have one." And walks off. She is left alone with her thoughts, though it doesn't take her all that long to come to a conclusion.

A few days later she is off on her first mission to Venus


	3. We Are The Last People Standing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is back on Venus until a message fromthe Tower has her rushing back home.

**[Now]**

 

And now, years and years later she is off again. Her trip, however, is cut short by unexpected news she had been expecting for some time now -just not now, not _today_.

A few Earthen days pass by uneventfully -if you called hunting Vex and observing the Vault uneventful- until someone starts reaching out for her. She had been looking at the Vault of Glass' guard for the better part of the day now, mapping their behavior, watching for any differences in their patters. So far she had no correlating data, but Lucy was hopeful. With a sigh she puts her rifle down, and her Ghost floats up to her.

"It's Ezekiel," Milo tells her, "the message is marked as urgent."

"I doubt anything the kid has to tell me could be urgent."

Lucile lets out an annoyed sigh. "Let him through."

"I can't believe they just threw him out like that! And now Ikora is saying that it's out of our hands and that we have to just accept it and he just up and disappeared-"

Lucy frowns, the sinking feeling in the stomach still unnoticed. "Zeke, slow down. What the hell are you going on about?"

"The Speaker, Lucile! He exiled Osiris and now he's disappeared. He is not responding to any of my hails and Saint hasn't been able to reach him either. It's like he just vanished."

And then her heart drops. The anger and anxiety become a mutual feeling. But not before denial is given a chance. "He must have left some kind of clue where he has gone to right? He wouldn't leave me- leave us in the dark like that."

"His ship has gone completely off the radar. No one knows where he is." She can almost hear his footsteps pacing up and down the corridors of the Tower, "Osiris trusted the Speaker, he was his mentor! Why did he betray him like this?"

The words come across, an exasperated whisper. "We both know damn well 'why', Zeke."

"So now you agree with the Speaker?"

"No- Light above- of course not! But we can't sit around pretending to be surprised either. Osiris wouldn't have disappeared without reason, and I don't believe he left us nothing to find him with. He just- Osiris wouldn't- it just doesn't make sense."

And for a moment nothing comes through. Just general radio static fills the air, until Ezekiel starts again, his voice a low, biting tone; "I don't know why I expected a Hunter to understand."

And she responds, just as cold, just as angry; that same edge of disappointment in her voice: "Zeke- Ezekiel. You're treading on thin ice here."

"The speaker betrayed him, betrayed /us/. Toland deserved to be exiled, he went mad, but Osiris? Osiris was /nothing/ like him. Everyone knew Osiris questioned the Speaker, and I'm starting to believe he was right to do so. The Speaker is nothing more than a fraud, a liar, the only thing he is a Speaker of is of falsehoods...and I can’t believe it took this for me to realize it. "

"Ezekiel, listen to yourself-"

"Look around, Lucile! The only Guardians who are upset are Warlocks. The Titans shrug, they think he was a traitor. The Hunters sigh in relief, they think he was a nuisance that has finally been dealt with. None of that has gotten to me, though you want to know what has? The fact I cannot differentiate you from them. You are not a Warlock, of course you would never understand-"

And by the time the word 'never' crosses the channel she stops listening. Any grief she feels replaced by sheer anger. Words fail her -they never did before- leaving her body filled with an energy she couldn't get rid of. Moments later her cheeks heat up, an angry sob escaping her. So she acts like the mindless brat all Warlocks apparently see Hunters as and tries to call to that sense of home when she summons the Golden Gun, just to find her body crackling with Arc energy, turning her tears to lighting and her cries to thunder, pushing her to move- forcing her forward.

By the time it wears off all the Vaults guards are scrap metal on the ground. Lucile let’s out a yell in frustration.

Behind her she hears a 'whoosh' and sees Milo floating above her sparrow. It was a silent call that it was time to stop and think and go back home. Even if that home wouldn't feel like home for a while.

 

* * *

 

She is still angry with Ezekiel by the time she reached her ship, though when Earth comes into view most of that anger turns to a simple statement;

"He's just being a Warlock." She says to her Ghost "All three of them, Ikora, Ezekiel, Osiris, just being stubborn, stuck-up, self-absorbed Warlocks."

"Well, they _are_ Warlocks."

"I know that, Milo! It just-" she pounds her hands on the controls a few times "why couldn't I have just been content running patrols all day?"

Though it was a rhetorical question, the Ghost still replies;

"Because that is simply not who you are. I knew I was in for a ride when the Traveler first made me. I didn't know who or where you were but, I had a feeling. I almost wasn't sure you were going to be Hunter"

Lucile lets out a huff in amusement. "Sometimes I'm not so sure I'm a Hunter myself."

"When I was looking for you I searched for a feeling. _Something_ within the dead that called me. So when I found you, I started to realize what that feeling was."

"And?"

"That feeling was 'home', Lucile. _You_ feel like home. And when you lose yourself in the anger, home starts to feel empty. And sometimes it's okay. But it has been empty for a while now."

Lucile lets the auto-pilot take over and pulls Milo in for a hug, pulling him against her cheek. "Sorry I've made you feel that way, buddy. I've been struggling with the feeling of home too. Doesn't mean I have to drag you down into this self-pitying brood pit I dug myself."

Milo laughs. "It's alright. Brood-pits are part of the Hunter care package we receive from the City. It also contains a packet of Honey-Comets, two emergency cloaks and a set of googly eyes."

And that has the Hunter laughing too. And by the time they reach the Tower that laugher does not fade.

 

* * *

 

Once inside the Tower, the mood quickly changes. Dirty looks and sidelong whispers are being thrown the Hunter's way, but she doesn't mind them. With or without Osiris, this is who she was. This was the path Lucy would have gone down, no matter who taught her.

Her first order of business was talking to the Speaker. And after half an hour of having to hear a lecture about how 'his opinions divided us' and 'Osiris was a dangerous man' Lucile decides pulling the oldest trick in the Hunter book: pretending to be called away for a scouting mission.

 

Now that plan A yielded no results, it was time for plan B; finding Ezekiel and planning on finding Osiris and definitely _not_ decking him in the face as soon as she sees him. Absolutely not that. So when Milo tells her that he's in the library -the 'Warlock' library- she is pointedly _not_ thinking about where to hit him.

The face seems as good a place as any.

She eventually finds him nose deep into some scroll or another. The other Warlocks in the library take notice of the fluttering cloak, and some quickly take their research elsewhere. If anything, all Guardians knew when trouble came storming through. A hand on the Exo's shoulder is about all the warning he gets before Lucile pulls him around and her fist finds purchase with the gleaming purple metal that made up his face. The sound cast by the punch would have made any Titan proud. Ezekiel staggers, but Lucy doesn't let up just yet. With surprise on her side she trips the Warlock, ass-first to the ground, a knee digging into his chest.

His look of confusion quickly turns to anger with a healthy amount of disgust, but again, Lucile was not quite done with him.

She speaks, a solemn tone the only way to describe it.

"You want to call me a dumb Hunter, fine. You tell me I don't entirely understand what goes on in those thick-skulled, pompous heads of you Warlocks, whatever. But don't you _ever_ assume I don't care about him. Don't you dare think I'm relieved to see him gone. I've known him for longer than you've been a Guardian-" and at this point her emotions catch up with her, the biting tone turning into a sorrowful anger, tears lining her eyes, "and Osiris was more than just my teacher. He is- he _was_ one of the last things that made this place feel like home," and by now the tears were falling, "and now he left me here, without a proper goodbye. He left me with nothing these stupid, stupid feelings." She takes a deep breath, gets up and wipes her face. The next moment she extends her hand to Zeke. "I didn't come back all the way from Venus just to yell at you and make a scene, Ezekiel." And pulls him up off the ground, her voice, tired, but determined. "Now c'mon. We have a Warlock to find."

 

* * *

 

The next few weeks are spent searching for Osiris. For a time the two got along well, aligned by their overlapping goals, but by the end of the third week of searching Lucile decides it's enough.

"He doesn't want anyone to find him." She says. "Not them, not us. We're not going to find him." And then, more to herself than to Ezekiel, "He left us behind."

But Ezekiel seemingly didn't listen. "We have to appeal to the Speaker again, get that pretender to admit he was wrong and undo the exile."

Lucile sighs, "He won't, Zeke. Even if he did I doubt the rest of the Guardians would accept him back so graciously. He's-" and she takes a deep breath to stop and tears from forming, "Osiris is gone. He is gone and we are not going to find him and that is how it is. No un-doing the exile or any amount of searching is going to change that."

"The Speaker betrayed Osiris and he's the only one that can undo this we have to at least try-" but she cuts him off.

"He is _gone_ , Ezekiel!" And despite her best effort, the tears come, "He is gone and he left us behind! And if Osiris didn't make an effort to tell us where he went then why should he deserve ours?"

Ezekiel turns to her, the lights that made up his eyes holding that same anger she had seen before. "So you're giving up on him?"

Lucile wipes away the tears, runs a hand through her hair and stands up. A resolute "Yes." is all she says before walking out.

She didn't speak to Ezekiel for quite some time after that. Lucile retreated into finding some form of solace in her research and the crucible. Ezekiel trained further under Ikora. Eventually, some years later apologies were exchanged and the two of them moved on with life. They had been children back then, or might as well have been. And when a Century later news finally arrives, Lucile realizes she may not have grown up as much as she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you starting to see the pattern in the titles yet?


	4. Cold Morning Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old wounds reopen as Lucile hears of Osiris' return.

 

And then years and years and years later -to the point that keeping track was a little useless- trouble finds her again.

"Osiris?" The name escapes her, foreign in her mouth. Of course it was Osiris. Who else would be at the epicenter of trouble with the Vex. And all Ikora can do is give the Hunter a nod.

It had always been an odd sight to the Warlock; watching the Hunter excitedly trailing Osiris through the Tower, happily chatting about one quantum problem or another, waving him off, like a child would to a father, as he went to see the Speaker.

She remembers seeing the girl lost when he was exiled. It marked her as an outcast, defending her former mentor with every last breath. The tiredness and pain in her eyes as she and Ezekiel helped the Hidden search the system for a trace- a hint of where he could be.

And Ikora saw that pain again when word of his disciples  in the Reef reached the Tower, only to find that they did not know where Osiris had gone either. Anger drove her through their Trials time and time again. For a while the Hunter veered dangerously close to the darkness.

In time the Warlock saw some of that wonder -that typical Hunter look- return to her eyes by a trusted companion; a Titan, no less.

Even if Ikora did not agree with her former mentor's ideologies- even if she did not always agree with the Hunter, it was hard not to feel some kind of compassion toward Lucile. Never quite a friend, but a confidant when it mattered most.

And Lucy saw it on Ikora's face, too. But she knew -promised herself- that this time would be different. No more tears would be shed for her old teacher. The words come out, steady and determined.

"When, where?"

"Mercury, less than an hour ago. I have sent for two of my most trusted agents to look to secure communications."

"But you don't think he will respond to them?" It was more of a statement than a question. Lucile knew Osiris beyond his legacy; he would not risk just anyone knowing where he is. Because Vex threat or not, he is still an exile, wanted by many, with each reasons for their own.

"Agent Eos is on Io, but he believes he is better off gathering information with Asher on the Vex gate at the moment. I tried contacting Ezekiel, but it seems he is still... preoccupied." The care in Ikora's tone suggested sensitive Hidden business, and Lucy knew not to pry further. Despite advising the Hidden on Vex and Taken related matters from time to time, she never officially joined their ranks.

In truth, Lucile was a little offended.

"Who else knows?" Not because someone else knew, and she tells herself it's not because the Vanguard told someone else _before_ her. Definitely not.

"Just them. And now you, Paredes. Go to Mercury, find Osiris. Despite the legend he has become, he is still one man. This gate is not something we can leave to chance."

"I'll..." Lucy let out a breath, "I'll get it done. Whatever it takes." Ikora gives her a nod. The Hunter turns away toward the stairs, off to prepare for the journey ahead.

"Paredes- Lucile." Ikora calls after her. Wordlessly she turns to the Vanguard. "Do not make the same mistakes he made."

Lucile replies; "I don't know if I can make that a promise, Ikora." And walks away.

Lucile spends the rest of the evening turning in what she can, taking whatever extra seconds in the City she can steal. Going to Mercury would be reopening an old wound. It was going to hurt, and it was going to suck. This was the most base way of putting it.

But -and she resented this part of herself most- she would go. Gladly, just to see Osiris again. The worst part? She had done it before. Spent sleepless nights searching, studying commonly used flight routes, avoiding those ways -as he would- and searching, looking for any place, anything, he cared about, avoiding there -them- and _searching_. All of it, all her time, to see him.

She loved him. Not like she loves Alexandra, never like that. She hadn't know the Titan for all that long, but already she meant the world to her. Around her everything was so much easier. The journeys more pleasant, her step a bit quicker, the weight of the world a little lighter. In Alex she had found a new home.

Every year she lost searching for Osiris, Lucy gained back simply by being near Alex. No sight in the universe compared to her smile. If she spent a century looking for Osiris she would spend a millennium searching for her. Each was love in its own right, but neither quite the same.

And Lucile noticed that her mind had started to wander off because the slightest whisper of a voice spoke in her ear;

_"The heart weighs heavy as the mind. A world of teeth and bones weighs lighter than a world of flesh."_

She turned her head away from the bones on her shoulder. Pretending it helped her not hear the voice, but not tuning it out either.

_"Lend me your heart, oh bearer mine. Let us steel it with bones and arm it with teeth."_

Quietly she says, "That's enough out of you." And the voice disappears again.

The sky slowly colored the most amazing shades of pinks and yellows and blues as Lucile watched the sunrise. The lights of the City dimmed by the sun -the sun that her love had saved on the Almighty, but couldn't outshine her in a million years- and beneath Lucile the Tower came to life; more and more Guardians gathered and left each of them off on their own adventure. Lucy told herself she would leave at first light, but an extra minute or two wouldn't hurt anyone.

With a sigh she tells Milo to bring the ship around. And Lucile takes that moment of solitude to throw a last look at the City, the Traveler and the Tower. One last look before she delves into the inevitable danger that awaits her on Mercury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pattern is that all chapters are named after lines from the Bastille song "Get Home", mostly because my working title had been 'who the fuck knows at this point' and I never actually came up with a proper one.
> 
> But, now that this clusterfuck of a fic is over I can finally move on with my life. Just kidding, I'll probably be back with something DLC related or backstory related (for my Titan this time) sooner or later. If I've learned anything it's that I always do, no matter how much all my past writing haunts me.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written as a whole but I wanted to spare everyone having to read nearly 6000 words in one go especially when the writing is a bit all over the place. As per usual, comments of any kind are appreciated!
> 
> Also of note; chapter one is in no way representative of the length of the rest of the fic. 
> 
> Also: shoutout to Ren from my clan (Twilight Prism) for helping me bounce around some idea's and writing his character Ezekiel! It's always a blast talking with you my friend.


End file.
